She Shall, From Time To Time: Nine Hundred Miles Away
by araviis
Summary: After Donna moves to Madison to work for the Governor of Wisconsin, she and Josh suffer the difficulties of a long-distance marriage. Follows Welcome To Wherever You're Going.


"Are you sure it's him?"

"I think so. Should I go over there?"

Smothering a smirk, Josh shouldered his backpack and turned to face the two whispering college kids coming through airport security behind him. They blushed furiously with one accord, but one took a small step forward.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir..."

"It's no bother." He hadn't run into fans of his own so often since the President was sworn in. Somehow students these days tended to find Santos sexier than him. There was no accounting for taste.

"Are you Donna Lyman's husband?"

 _Donna Lyman's husband_? A grin spread across his face. "Yes, I am," he said. "You're familiar with my wife's work?"

"We went to her lecture at UW last month," the apparent leader said in a rush. "We were really inspired by her. I'm changing my major to poli-sci, and Gina decided not to drop out of college after all."

"That's really great, good for you," he said sincerely. "You know-" he turned abruptly to the head of his detail. "How quickly do we have to get to the car, Mike?"

"We can hold off for an extra five minutes."

"Great." He turned back to the students. "Donna's waiting to meet me just outside. If you want to come and say hi I'm sure she'd love to talk to you."

"Really?"

"Sure. Just give me a minute to go on ahead, okay?"

As he left he heard Gina whisper behind him: "Are those Secret Service agents? Is he important too?"

It didn't take long to find Donna, standing at the end of the line with a big smile on her face. He picked up the pace as soon as he saw her, engulfing her in a warm, enthusiastic hug.

"I missed you," she told him, pressing a kiss on his cheek for emphasis, and he pulled back to look at her face, grinning.

"I missed you, too."

She let go of him, and rummaged in her purse, withdrawing the car key. "Here," she said, handing it to Mike, "we're just around the corner."

"Slow down," Josh told her, "I've got a surprise for you."

She awarded him a sunny smile. "You have?"

"You, it would seem, are developing a fan club." He glanced behind him and waved the two girls over, and watched as his wife, a little taken aback at the idea of having fans, encouraged the political minds of the future.

With no alarm to wake him, no situation room to hurry into, Josh slept until after ten the next morning. He woke to the smell of pancakes, and Donna humming to herself in the kitchen.

"Morning," she smiled as he ambled in and leaned around the pan to steal a kiss. "Careful! You'll burn yourself." She pushed him back with a hand on his chest, steering him clear of the stove, and then kissed him properly.

Josh had a funny way with kissing. It was the complete opposite of the way he hugged: he tended to hold back, leaving several inches between their bodies; he'd lean his head forward, just so, so that the only contact between them was lips. This morning, he seemed to be feeling daring, and went so far as to cup her face in his hands. Donna indulged herself for a few seconds, then pulled away to flip the pancakes before they burned.

"You slept well," she said over her shoulder. "Can you grab the syrup? It's in the corner cabinet."

"Got it. I haven't had a lot of sleep all week. Guess I needed to catch up."

She pursed her lips disapprovingly, and started to pile up their plates. "You should take better care of yourself."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Josh-"

"I know, you're right," he ceded. "It's just the job. And coming home to an empty house isn't much fun."

"I know." She reached for his hand. "But we're together today, so let's enjoy it, okay?"

He kissed her fingers. "Your wish is my command."

"Damn right it is."

Donna had fully intended to drag Josh all around Madison today. He'd even been enthusiastic about the idea: although he'd visited her here twice already, they hadn't ended up leaving the house much. She'd steeled herself – they would have a whole five days at Niagara Falls for their anniversary in two weeks, she could wait till then to really let loose, and anyway, she wanted to show her husband where she'd grown up. But the April snow had been fiercer than expected, and as Donna could afford an insulated apartment now, they ended up curled together in her bed, her head nestled against his shoulder, his fingers running up and down her spine, her arm wrapped around his torso, holding his bare skin to hers.

"I really have missed you," Josh said into her hair.

"I know. This really sucks," she murmured against his skin. "We can't keep doing it forever."

"It's not forever. When you're in Congress you'll be in DC all the time. Anyway, the President's not running again. There's nothing to stop me from moving to Madison."

Donna half-sat up. "The President's not running again?"

"Ah." He hesitated, and gave her a sheepish smile. "You didn't hear that from me."

"Did I just tear a state secret from you using my wiles?"

"Your wiles?"

"I have wiles." She drew back to give him a better view, and he stared.

"I know you do," he growled. She grinned, and he reached for her, their separation, for the moment, forgotten.

The next day she waved him off at Dame County, instructing him to get some sleep on the plane and go home before ten every night at least until after their vacation, with a subtle hint about _wearing him out_ that was sure to make him at least try to obey.

Josh had made President Santos promise that nothing short of nuclear war would prevent him from taking the vacation. Santos had been all too eager to agree, concern for his friend far overruling the need for his Chief of Staff. And when the time came nothing had happened, so he was already at airport security at National when he saw the news.

BREAKING – SHOOTING IN MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

He ditched the queue he'd waited an hour in, pulling out his phone as he walked, and dialled Donna.

"I'm so sorry," she said, sounding distressed. "I have to stay."

"Hey, of course you do. I understand. We'll take the trip some other time."

"I don't care about the trip, I wanted to see _you_. I just..." She fell silent for a second. "Josh, I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll call you later, okay? I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, but she was already gone.

It was two in the morning by the time Governor Parker's car finally dropped Donna home. She let herself in on autopilot, rubbing her eyes as she switched on the light, and there was _a man sleeping on her couch_.

She screamed.

The man leapt into the air - "It's okay, it's okay, I'm sorry, it's me-" and it took a second to realise what was happening.

" _Josh_?"

"I'm sorry," he said, "I wanted to surprise you, but I didn't think, I should have called, I'm sorry-"

"Josh," she said again, staring at him, and burst into tears.

He flew to her side at once. "I'm sorry," he said again, softer, and tugged her into his arms. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay."

"It's not okay," she sobbed into his shoulder, "Josh, this thing is so horrible, people died, _kids_ died, and all I could think about, all day, is that I wouldn't get to see you! I'm just-" she swallowed sharply - " _so_ glad you're here."

He had no idea what to do. He just hugged her tighter, ran his hands up and down her back soothingly, kept telling her it was okay, she was allowed to be upset, he was upset too, and eventually her sobs quietened, and she drew back in his arms, clinging to the sleeves of his shirt.

"Josh, what are you _doing_ here?"

"I needed to see you," he said, "just, I had to be here. Come with me." He extracted himself from her grip and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her to the bedroom. "You are a woman in desperate need of a backrub."

The next day was just as bad, but by the third, she only worked half the day, and then the Governor ordered her to enjoy the rest of her vacation. It was too late for Niagara now, but once she'd slept for fourteen hours, she finally got to show Josh around Madison.

"I like it here," he proclaimed as they walked through the park that evening. She grinned at him, pleased.

"You do?"

"Yeah. It's big enough to have shops open past four o'clock, but, you know, it's not stifling like DC."

"I'm glad."

"Donna," he said then, drawing her to a nearby bench, "I've been thinking a lot the last couple of days."

She looked down, biting her lip, and then met his eyes. "This isn't working, is it?"

"I miss you all the time. Whenever we make plans something comes up. I really, really hate not seeing you every day – every week, even."

She squeezed his hand. "I miss you, too. I don't want to keep doing this."

"Neither do I."

"Okay, then. I'll call the Governor tonight. Bill Brown would do a good job... maybe Asha Woodhouse, or..."

"Wait, what? No, Donna, I'm not asking you to quit. You _love_ that job."

"Yes, but I love _you_ more. I can't go on like this, seeing you once a month if we're lucky. We've only been married a year. This is just too hard."

"Yeah," he said, and kissed her. "I love you, too. What I'm saying is, maybe Lou's ready to take on more."

It took a second for that to sink in. Donna clutched the bench, her knuckles turning white. "Josh."

"I'm tired all the time. I haven't had more than two weeks' break since before we _met_. I need to get out of DC before it gives me a heart attack. I could write a book. We could buy a house near your parents." He smiled. "We could start thinking about... about things we haven't had a chance to think about till now."

"That's a really nice picture."

"You mean so much more to me than any job. But I really have been burning out, you know I have. It's time for me to take a break."

"Are you really sure about this, Josh?"

He paused, looking her in the eye and taking both her hands in his. "I miss you. I'm miserable, and I don't think you're happy."

She shook her head and smiled.

"So let's make Madison home for now. We can live together again, and have a normal marriage, and in two years' time, we can make you a Congresswoman."

* * *

 _Part 1 of 4. I'm excited to write this! It has a solid outline! It has a plan! It's the most organised multi-chapter I've ever written!_ _Hopefully I'll get all the chapters done during the Christmas break, but we'll see._

 _Feedback is deeply appreciated._


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